Latoya Villagomez, 35, of Spring Hill, is charged with a felony charge of uttering a forged instrument, according to a Hernando County Sheriff’s Office news release.

According to deputies, Villagomez mailed the money order to a Withlacoochee River Electrical Cooperative office in a different county. That office forwarded it to the company’s office in Hernando County, where employees were “familiar with the customer’s account,” according to the news release.

Deputies contacted agents at the U.S. Secret Service Financial Crimes office in Tampa, who confirmed that the money order was counterfeit, according to the news release.

Villagomez admitted to authorities that she created the money order on her home computer, printed it out and mailed it, deputies said. She was arrested Monday.

Villagomez’s actual electric bill was $248, the Times reported. She said she mailed the bogus money order in an effort “to fulfill her debt to the electric company,” according to the Sheriff’s Office.

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